Finally! Washington Post Describes Waterboarding As Torture (When Someone Else Does It)

Ex-judge indicted on inmate sex charges

Judge orders Guantanamo detainee released A federal judge has ordered the United States to release a prisoner from the Guantanamo detention center.

Environmental group fights subpoena on leak The National Wildlife Federation on Tuesday challenged a government subpoena aimed at finding out who leaked the Bush administration's plans to weaken the Endangered Species Act just weeks before President Barack Obama took office.

EPA to test air around 62 schools in 22 states

"The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience" A new book argues that no voice in the FDR administration was more influential in shaping the New Deal than Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, the first-ever woman cabinet member in the United States.

Son of jailed ex-CIA spy: I was just a messenger The son of an imprisoned ex-CIA spy claims he was "just the messenger" when he traveled around the world taking cash from his father's former Russian handlers, according to taped phone conversations played in court Tuesday.

GE and Intel to unveil health care partnership U.S. conglomerate General Electric Co and Intel Corp , the world's largest chip maker, have scheduled a joint press conference for Thursday, and are expected to discuss an alliance in health care, according to a source with knowledge of the plans.

US awards new security contract to replace Blackwater (AFP)  The State Department said Wednesday it has awarded a contract to a new security firm to protect US diplomats on the ground in Baghdad after dropping the controversial Blackwater Worldwide, renamed Xe.

Pay-to-play indictment imminent for Blagojevich

Unrequired test nipped tainted pistachios in bud (AP)

Guard needs more money to send troops to border (AP)  A National Guard official said Tuesday that the Guard would need additional funding to send more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border

New tax credit bumps weekly paychecks by about $10 (AP)  Most workers will start seeing about a $10 bump in their weekly paychecks this week, thanks to a new federal tax credit.

Dems Investigating Bush WH Role In AIG Collapse

9 patients made nearly 2,700 ER visits in Texas

(Harvard) Analyst says she was fired for criticizing controversial investment practices

The World's 10 Highest Paid Politicians: Find Out Who They Are

Seymour Hersh: Secret U.S. Forces Carried Out Assassinations in 'a Lot of' Countries, Including in Latin America The investigative journalist for The New Yorker explains his recent bombshell revelation about Dick Cheney's "executive assassination" squads.

FDA warns consumers: Stop eating pistachios

US and Canada set new pollution-control rules for ships in coastal areas

Man upset over taxes charged for 'drive-by' remark No matter how frustrating taxes get, it's not a good idea to threaten to do a drive-by shooting at the state Department of Revenue. Authorities charged man with two counts of terroristic threats after he got upset and allegedly told a Department of Revenue supervisor he was going to do a drive-by shooting.

$44 million given to clean up Nevada Test Site Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced that $44 million will be used for environmental cleanup at the Nevada Test Site where nuclear weapons experiments were conducted during the Cold War.

Blagojevich had contact with Tribune, records show

Cafferty: War on drugs is insane

Study: Seattle housing for alcoholics saves money A program that gives homeless alcoholics a place to live and drink is saving taxpayers more than $4 million a year, according to a study released Tuesday.

FBI: Thousands of PR children victims of ID theft An identity-theft ring that catered to illegal immigrants seeking to establish themselves in the U.S. stole the personal data of 7,000 public school children in Puerto Rico, officials said Tuesday.

Union plumbers jeer 'Joe the Plumber' in Pittsburgh

Scooter Libby shows up for neocon foreign policy summit

Derivatives whiz fired for whistleblowing?

FBI probing Mo. pay-for-play allegations The FBI is questioning Missouri lawmakers about allegations that legislative leaders demanded campaign contributions in exchange for prestigious committee posts, legislative sources told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Supreme Court to Weigh Relevance of Voting Rights Act in Obama Era  America's next great battle over civil rights could hardly have a less controversial flash point: the benign decision to move the neighborhood polling place from Jack Stueber's garage to the local

Got Hemp? Any number of domestic businesses — from soap makers to auto suppliers — use industrial hemp in their products, but the hemp must be farmed overseas and imported. (Nearly every other industrialized country in the world already produces the crop.)

Mexico says gang sold stolen oil to US refineries (AP)  Police in northern Mexico caught a gang that allegedly stole oil from state-owned pipelines and smuggled it across the border to sell it to U.S. refineries, authorities said Tuesday.

Feds to grill CIA felon over interrogation tapes (AP)  Federal prosecutors investigating the destruction of videotapes showing suspected terrorists under interrogation plan to question a former CIA officer next week before he heads to prison.

Study: Big earners less apt to smoke than poor (AP)  The poor are much more likely to smoke than the rich, a Gallup-Healthways study found last year.

Turning off computers can bring big savings A new study says the world could save billions of dollars if people just shut off their PCs at night.

WATCH: Joe The Plumber Confronted By Union Workers, Stumped On Policy

Ford exec: No thanks, Uncle Sam Ford is the only major U.S. carmaker that is getting by without U.S. taxpayer money

Highlights of draft bill to curb global warming

Critics slam Microsoft bridge as waste of stimulus Should a bridge that would connect two campuses at Microsoft's headquarters be funded with $11 million from the federal stimulus package?

U.S. to drop charges against former Sen. Stevens: report

Top Treasury Nominee Helped Draft Legislation Deregulating Banks

Jindal may not like volcano monitoring, but this Republican does U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Monday she'll introduce legislation this week to establish regular funding for the Alaska Volcano Observatory, just one month after fellow Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal criticized the stimulus bill pushed by President Baack Obama for containing spending for volcano monitoring.

Nonprofit organizations seek federal stimulus funds

Social Security tax receipts fall with job losses

Auditor: Bailed-out banks use aid differently

Bill would drastically change U.S. energy production, use Democrats in the House of Representatives on Tuesday announced a sweeping plan to change how the nation produces and uses energy in order to reduce the risk of dangerous climate change.

Special Election recount? Democrat leads by just 65 votes

FDIC's Bair urges higher capital for banks The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says new oversight of big financial institutions deemed to be high risk should include raising their capital requirements to help protect the financial system.

US and Gibraltar to share tax data Tim Geithner signs deal to help US enforce tax laws. G20 expected to crack down on tax avoidance

GOP Budget Plan Assumes Americans Would Choose Higher Tax Rate

 House votes limited court protection for reporters Reporters who decline to reveal confidential information or sources would gain limited protection in federal court under a bill approved Tuesday in the House.

Watchdogs: Treasury won't disclose bank bailout details The massive programs designed to rescue the nation's financial sector are operating without adequate oversight, with vague goals and limited disclosure of their details to the taxpayers who are paying for them, government watchdogs told a Senate panel Tuesday.

Pardon sought for first black heavyweight champ Sen. John McCain wants a presidential pardon for Jack Johnson, who became the nation's first black heavyweight boxing champion 100 years before Barack Obama became its first black president.

Senate devotes warming fees to energy subsidies (AP)  The Senate has endorsed using revenues from controversial cap-and-trade auctions of permits for emitting greenhouse gases to help consumers pay higher gasoline and electricity prices.

Obama, Medvedev to open missile talks The two leaders agree to open a new dialogue on reducing their nuclear arms stockpiles

U.S. Troops Will Support ‘our Security Forces’ – Basra Governor

Saudi Cleric Warns against American-Shi’a Partnership in Iraq

U.S. hands key base back to Iraqis The U.S. military handed back a key base in southeast Baghdad to the Iraqis on Tuesday, marking a major step toward fulfilling the security agreement that went into effect this year.

US replaces Blackwater for some Iraq security the transition between Triple Canopy and Xe (Blackwater) would begin immediately

Iraq penalizes two S Korean oil firms for Kurd deal Iraq's oil minister penalized two South Korean oil firms on Thursday, banning them from taking part in Iraqi tenders after they signed a billion-dollar contract with the Kurd regional government.

US Army Hands Iraq Control Of Last Anti-Qaida Fighters BAGHDAD (AFP)--The U.S. army was due Thursday to hand Iraq control of the last former anti-Qaida fighters credited with bringing calm to many areas nationwide at the height of the country's insurgency.

Iraq insurgents regrouping with new boldness

Army: Officer reprimanded after friendly fire (AP)  The Army says a 101st Airborne Division soldier who died during a firefight with Iraqi insurgents last year was killed by an officer's friendly fire.

Russia to deliver 22 Mi-17 helicopters to Iraq

Lies in Iraq shooting unpunished The top security official at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq refused to punish Blackwater security guards for making false statements about an unjustified 2005 shooting in Baghdad because he didn’t want to lower the morale of those contracted to work security, according to newly released State Department records.

Kurds in N. Iraq Receive Arms From Bulgaria Kurdish officials this fall took delivery of three planeloads of small arms and ammunition imported from Bulgaria, three U.S. military officials said, an acquisition that occurred outside the weapons procurement procedures of Iraq's central government.

UN: 70% of Palestinian youth oppose violence to resolve conflict with Israel

Petraeus: Israel Might Attack Iran

Israeli Minister Dismisses Peace Effort In a belligerent speech on his first day as Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman declared that “those who want peace should prepare for war.”

Saudi government cracks down on Shiite dissidents A cleric's threat of secession has brought a swift government crackdown in this poor, radical Shiite town in Saudi Arabia's increasingly restive religious minority heartland atop the Sunni kingdom's main oil reserves.

Afghan leader offers deal to non-Al-Qaida Taliban Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton offered an olive branch Tuesday to Taliban fighters who reject al-Qaida and pressed an international conference for help in strengthening Afghanistan's security forces

Bombs rip through Afghan government office Three Taliban suicide bombers disguised in army uniforms stormed a government office in Afghanistan on Wednesday after a fourth detonated a car bomb, officials said. At least 17 people died.

Iran offers to help US rebuild AfghanistanIran made a significant conciliatory gesture towards the Obama administration today, offering to help US-led efforts to stabilise and rebuild Afghanistan.

 U.S. Construction in Afghanistan Sign of Long CommitmentThe Army is building $1.1 billion worth of military bases and other facilities in Afghanistan and is planning to start an additional $1.3 billion in projects this yea

Iran has interest in a stable Afghanistan, Clinton says

U.S. reconciliation offer "lunatic": Taliban spokesman Taliban insurgents reject a U.S. offer of "honorable reconciliation," a top spokesman said on Wednesday, calling it a "lunatic idea" and saying the only way to end the war was to withdraw foreign troops.

20 militants die in Afghan fight

Afghanistan seizes 1bn dollar drugs haul over year Afghan authorities said Thursday they had seized more than one billion dollars' worth of drugs and chemicals in 12 months and prosecuted top officials for involvement in smuggling.

Russia: Putin Foe Unrepentant The second trial of Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, a prominent foe of Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin and former oligarch, opened in Moscow with Mr. Khodorkovsky denouncing the proceedings.